2003: Good matches rarely talked about

[Loss]

The title says it all. I can think of quite a few TV matches from this year that have already been forgotten that are fun matches, and I'll try to post them, but no one got involved in the 2004 one, so I'll let someone else make the first move.

[Marty]

The first ones that come to mind:

 

- Jericho vs. Michaels (the rematch in the summer)

- Booker T vs. Henry (as we discussed in another thread)

- RVD vs. Christian - ladder match (not great, but there were some *sweet* sensical bumps taken by both men.

[Loss]

Jericho v Michaels could have been much better than it was. I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a good match, and I blame that entirely on everyone involved in the situation, from the writers to the announcers, except the wrestlers.

 

Jonathan Coachman was absolutely horrible on commentary, and they are working some really good segments in the ring while Lawler makes jokes about them. There are some really cool spots, such as Jericho burying his head in the turnbuckle to get more leverage on the Walls of Jericho, and my favorite sequence of all, which needed great commentary to work and they didn't have it.

 

There was a sequence at Wrestlemania where Shawn tried to headscissors Jericho out of the ring, but Jericho pushed him off of his shoulders. In this match, Shawn tries again, Jericho tries to push him off, but Shawn lands on his feet, goes for it again, it gets reversed again, and finally Shawn reverses it in a new way and gets him out for good. It was a nice little suspense sequence and a really cool homage to the WM match that showed how Jericho remembered what happened to him before, and how Shawn, the veteran, is very good at thinking on his feet.

 

Orton's interference. Problem. Lawler and Coach. Problem. Doing this in front of an apathetic SoCal crowd. Problem. Not doing the rematch months earlier when it would have actually mattered. Problem. The work in the match. Not too shabby.

[Loss]

I seem to remember HHH having a better than expected, 25-minute match with RVD in June of 2003 on RAW. Is my mind playing tricks on me? I mean, I know the match happened, but how was it?

[Marty]

You're probably right on Jericho-Michaels. I haven't seen it since it was live, and I think a big reason for me liking it was just about everything else going on. Jericho-Michaels was a silver lining.

 

Sadly, most of what I remember in 2003 was HHH vs. Kevin Nash. That doesn't help things. Goddammit, though, there's gotta be a Goldust match I'm forgetting, though.

[Loss]

He had a match with HHH in the build to Mania that I thought could have been worlds better had HHH sold. Goldust was game that night, but Hunter wanted to look invincible. Who knew?

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

If we are allowed to bring in non-WWE stuff, then I'll go with Nick Dinsmore v Doug Basham in a 2/3 falls match for the OVW Heavyweight title from the April 12th edition of OVW TV. While the Doug Basham v Damaja Loser Leaves Town match from August gets most of the attention of the matches in OVW, which it very much deserves as that whole match and scenario is an absolute classic, this match tends to fall under the radar.

 

The whole episode of OVW TV is built around this match. The episode opens with Jim Cornette interviewing Terry Taylor in the ring, and Taylor stresses the importance of the match, by making parallels to Kurt Angle, and saying that only 4 years ago Kurt was in the developmental territory, and now he just headlined Wrestlemania, and that Dinsmore or Basham could do the same thing too. Next up is a short video package that explains the whole Basham/Machine saga, and how Basham hates Dinsmore for taking his spot as the top guy in both OVW and in the eyes of Basham?s uncle, OVW owner Danny Davies. Then, we see an interview conducted earlier in the week where Cornette talks to Danny Davis, who says that as wrestlers Dinsmore and Basham are equal, but as men, Basham is a quitter and Dinsmore isn?t, so as men, Dinsmore will win. They then recap a six-man tag match were Basham, The Damaja and Kanyon took on Dinsmore, Johnny Jeter and Bradshaw, and the match ends with Damaja pinning Dinsmore with Dinsmore?s own German suplex finisher. We then get backstage promos with The Revolution and Nick Dinsmore, Johnny Jeter and Matt Morgan, where Basham and Dinsmore tell their respective friends to stay away from the match, and to let them settle things on their own.

 

The match itself is great, with the action mostly in the ring, as well as there being some ringside brawling as well. The story of the match sees Basham go after Dinsmore?s left knee, which Dinsmore had to have surgery on at the end of 2002. The first fall goes to Basham, who reverses an attempted German suplex and rolls Dinsmore up to get the pin. The second falls sees Basham really hammer the knee of Dinsmore, ramming it into the ringpost, and stripping the knee of the brace that Dinsmore had on it. Dinsmore battles back, and picks up the second fall with his German suplex finisher, to even the score. The third fall is frantic, with both men going for the deciding third fall. At this point, various members of The Revolution try to interfere, but they get seen off by Dinsmore, as well as Johnny Jeter and Matt Morgan, who come out to even things up. One of those seen off was Rob Conway, who did a loaded glove gimmick in OVW, and had dropped the glove at ringside. With the match still going on, Jackie Gayda came to ringside and got the glove, and managed to slip it to Basham while the referee was distracted. Dinsmore saw her and went after her on the ring apron, giving Basham time to slip on the loaded glove. Basham went to use it, but Dinsmore blocked it, and they hit a few moves before hitting the ropes. Dinsmore a blow by Basham, but on the rebound, Basham hit Dinsmore with the loaded glove, unseen by the referee, and fell on top of Dinsmore to score the very unpopular three count, and win the OVW Heavyweight Title. The crowd aren?t too happy, as they know Basham used the glove, and a lot of them start amassing by the security rail, which Cornette alludes to on commentary, and the heat for this scenario is really strong.

 

I know that a foreign object finish in an important match can come off really badly, but in this situation it worked really well. The building to the finish, both in the booking of the match and the commentary from Jim Cornette, made it come across as a reprehensible act by the heels, and you left with a feeling that the babyface got cheated out of a win. There was no feeling of, ?They went 25 minutes and had that finish ?? , or anything else you normally get when WWE do something like this. You were left with the feeling you are meant to have with a finish like that, even with one that came at the end of a great 25 minute match; the heels screwed over the babyface, and you want to see the babyface get his revenge.

[Loss]

Thanks for the summary, HTQ. Yes, it's definitely allowed. Encouraged, even.

 

The only things I guess I can really mention are the Haas/Benjamin v Eddy/Taijiri tags, which I haven't even seen, but are supposed to be really fun. They happened in spring.

[goodhelmet]

I can't speak for all of the Tajiri/Eddie vs. WGTT matches... only the PPV ladder one. It isn't worth a rewatch.